The warm summer and continued warm fall has led to perhaps our biggest bumper crop of tomatoes. I have a good spot to grow them above the rock retaining wall above the alley. Growing tomatoes in the cool of western Washington is a challenge, and a bit extra so in Bellingham - a bit cooler than most other locales. Some of the plants are completely done, but we have a few that continue to produce well until it really gets to cold and dark. So when home I do a simple process to preserve them.
I cut them up and lay them out on trays with a light coating of olive oil (sometimes I use the left over oil from Lisa's preserved of zucchini jars). Slide the trays into the oven and heat to 220 F for 3 hours. Turn the oven off and in the morning slide the slightly dried tomatoes into baggies and freeze. The concentrated flavor and loss of excess water makes them just right for an instant sauce. A fast method versus making sauce and a great way to deal with a few pounds at a time.
Ready to bag after partial dry
2 comments:
I do the same method with the vast quantities of cherry tomatoes that I get each year.
What varietals do you grow?
I stared this with cherry tomatoes, then started with others. Juliet has been a favorite as well as black prince and champion. Juliet produces through October and is highly resistant to mold despite the moist Octobers.
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